I did some further testing. It has nothing to do with AWCC or OC controls. Even if they are fully uninstalled I get these initial spikes in CPU temps for 3-4 seconds (fan goes crazy) to then drop immediately back to 65 - 70°C (fan normal) at 100%CPU load (Prime 95, 4k video encoding, Futuremark CPU test, Cinebench CPU test etc.)

Can anybody with a R8 i9 9900K liquid cooled and rtx 2080 ti confirm this? I just cannot recall this R8 having this behavior coming out of the box and I have run Futuremark and other CPU intensive task (mainly video encoding) many times before. 

Everything was ok until I installed the new BIOS and the latest version of AWCC and OC controls which are NOT specific for the R8.

So these are 2 different things, correct?

1. BIOS for R8. From which version to 1.0.5 (7/10/2019)?

2. AWCC and OC controls. From which version to latest version 5.2.42.0 ,A00 (7/29/2019)?

Looks like you removed AWCC + OC, but seems like there's no way to revert BIOS? I tried to revert BIOS on my R8 but the BIOS recovery doesn't have the factory installed BIOS on it. It was overwritten by a successful BIOS update. If someone here knows how to downgrade BIOS, please do share.

That is unless @bubestube came shipped with a "secret BIOS" like I suspected mine did. On 6/4, Dell released a 1.0.3 BIOS, leapfrogging over the 1.0.2 that I wanted. I suspected that I received a non-official BIOS that allowed me to have some OC feature on my system that isn't factory overclocked because OC actually gave me a message that "OC was turned off due to system instability". I didn't take notice of that because the BIOS update came up right after that.

So if you are looking for a BIOS that isn't published on the support site, you're out of luck.

Long transcript attached:

Dell Rep (5/13/2019, 10:14:00 AM): How can I assist you? I see something about the BIOS?
Me (5/13/2019, 10:14:04 AM): I apologize for the cryptic message
Dell Rep (5/13/2019, 10:14:12 AM): Oh dont worry
Me (5/13/2019, 10:14:15 AM): So my system came shipped with a BIOS version 1.0.2
Me (5/13/2019, 10:14:29 AM): After running SupportAssist to find the latest drivers
Me (5/13/2019, 10:14:36 AM): it recommended that I update my BIOS
Me (5/13/2019, 10:14:47 AM): I clicked through the messages and warnings
Me (5/13/2019, 10:15:10 AM): and before my brain registered that it was changing my BIOS to 1.0.1, I already clicked the button
Me (5/13/2019, 10:15:21 AM): so now my system BIOS is 1.0.1
Me (5/13/2019, 10:15:48 AM): and I'm pretty sure the factory that put together my system has a newer 1.0.2 BIOS that isn't published yet
Me (5/13/2019, 10:16:16 AM): I tried to recover the BIOS using BIOS recovery 2
Me (5/13/2019, 10:16:24 AM): but ctrl-esc doesn't work
Me (5/13/2019, 10:16:55 AM): Any suggestions?
Dell Rep (5/13/2019, 10:17:05 AM): I see, it is actually fine the way it is
Dell Rep (5/13/2019, 10:17:25 AM): The BIOS 1.0.2 was placed on some machines, but indeed the one to be used is the current 1.0.1
Dell Rep (5/13/2019, 10:17:46 AM): If the machine properly downgrade it, it will be fine
Me (5/13/2019, 10:18:05 AM): The machine is functioning properly
Dell Rep (5/13/2019, 10:18:15 AM): The new BIOS, we do not have a ETA yet, but as available it will pushed on Support Assist
Dell Rep (5/13/2019, 10:18:45 AM): Correct it will, the same happened with some Laptops models: if you got the update you can keep it, it will not cause issuess
Dell Rep (5/13/2019, 10:19:01 AM): Or if installed 1.0.1 it will be fine as well
Me (5/13/2019, 10:19:05 AM): Well, I just see that my Alienware overclocking is disabled
Me (5/13/2019, 10:19:18 AM): but maybe it is because I do not have an unlocked CPU
Dell Rep (5/13/2019, 10:19:46 AM): Correct this is the i5-9400, only X or K can be OCed
Me (5/13/2019, 10:19:48 AM): may I ask you another question?
Dell Rep (5/13/2019, 10:19:53 AM): Sure thing
Me (5/13/2019, 10:20:14 AM): If I bought a K processor and dropped it into my system
Me (5/13/2019, 10:20:22 AM): Will the overclocking be enabled?
Me (5/13/2019, 10:20:35 AM): I already have the system configured with 850W liquid cooling
Me (5/13/2019, 10:20:51 AM): and I see a huge heat sink sitting on the motherboard VRM
Dell Rep (5/13/2019, 10:21:24 AM): Correct, you can place a unlocked one on this system
Dell Rep (5/13/2019, 10:21:50 AM): However, in terms of warranty, in any event we wont be able to fully cover that if any issues afterwards
Me (5/13/2019, 10:22:15 AM): Will the BIOS allow overclocking after I replace the CPU?
Me (5/13/2019, 10:22:30 AM): Or do I need Dell to give me some BIOS unlocking feature?
Me (5/13/2019, 10:22:56 AM): I'm looking at sometime 6 months from now to purchase a 9600K boxed cpu when price goes down
Dell Rep (5/13/2019, 10:23:45 AM): No needed, when the machine detects the new CPU that will be enabled
Me (5/13/2019, 10:23:53 AM): This is good news
Dell Rep (5/13/2019, 10:24:01 AM): There is no need to unlock special features from us
Me (5/13/2019, 10:24:22 AM): I'm glad to hear that

Oh, interesting, yeah, they do omit 1.0.2 as a download option.  Dell might have originally installed an unlocked CPU in your system, along with OC Controls, then realized the error and replaced the CPU but forgot to uninstall OC Controls.  The clock multiplier is locked via the CPU, not the Dell software, so OC controls may have just disabled the feature when it realized the CPU was locked now.  

REPLYING TO: 

I suspected that I received a non-official BIOS that allowed me to have some OC feature on my system that isn't factory overclocked because OC actually gave me a message that "OC was turned off due to system instability".

Saw this and thought you might be interested:  9600K, $199. 

https://www.microcenter.com/product/512485/core-i5-9600k-coffee-lake-37-ghz-lga-1151-boxed-processor

REPLYING TO: 

"I'm looking at sometime 6 months from now to purchase a 9600K boxed cpu when price goes down"

I could go back to BIOS 1.03 but that did not change anything. So I am back to 1.05. Maybe I try 1.01?

Funny also but it seems that you cannot switch off overlcocking in BIOS. Well, you can disable it in the BIOS but after starting Windows once it magically is re-enabled in BIOS. Well..., whatever.

While fiddling around in the BIOS I disabled the enhanced speedstep thing there (cant remember the exact name) thinking it could be responsible for the initial burst of fans due to burst of CPU frequency and with it temps. But it did not change anything.

Again, does anyone here get these initial CPU spikes when stressing the CPU and do you then also measure temps up to 100°C ??

rob

Hi Rob,

Funny also but it seems that you cannot switch off overlcocking in BIOS. Well, you can disable it in the BIOS but after starting Windows once it magically is re-enabled in BIOS. Well..., whatever.

Is this with AWCC + OC controls installed? If not, it could be due to automatic BIOS recovery? I'm not sure but BIOS shouldn't be non-sticky like this. That's why we have CMOS RTC; to retain all these settings.

While fiddling around in the BIOS I disabled the enhanced speedstep thing there (cant remember the exact name) thinking it could be responsible for the initial burst of fans due to burst of CPU frequency and with it temps. But it did not change anything.

Did the enhanced speedstep setting stick on multiple reboots? Or does it revert to enabled just like the BIOS overclock setting?

Again, does anyone here get these initial CPU spikes when stressing the CPU and do you then also measure temps up to 100°C ??

The motherboard, BIOS, CPU, cooler installation, or combination of any of these could cause this. I'd swap out these parts one by one to find the root cause but it's not possible unless you own a computer parts warehouse. Are you able to get Dell to send a technician with a spare mobo, CPU, and Asetek cooler to help you debug it?

You've probably seen this:

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/9x7z2u/i99900k_running_100c_on_stock_settings_with_aio/

Cause was the AIO cooler. But an interesting comment is the Vcore. What is the voltage supplied to the CPU both on idle and under stress?

I believe this is due to your OC Control settings.  Did you install the correct version of OC Controls listed for your service tag? Also, is OC enabled in OC Controls?  I would recommend disabling OC in OC Controls and/or uninstalling OC Controls and I believe that should fix the auto-overclocking.  When OC is enabled via OC Controls in windows (level 1, 2, or custom), then it can get re-enabled the next time you restart even if you manually disabled it via BIOS.

REPLYING TO:

Funny also but it seems that you cannot switch off overlcocking in BIOS. Well, you can disable it in the BIOS but after starting Windows once it magically is re-enabled in BIOS. Well..., whatever.

Hi everyone,

sooooo, after another BIOS update and AWCC and OC august updates it seems that I don't reach 100°Cs anymore. Nevertheless, CPU temperatures still rise in an instant from 39°C (idle) to upper eighties and lower nineties and I wonder if that is normal for a liquid cooled CPU. Also, OVERCLOCK OFF in Bios now sticks although AWCC seems to be able to overclock even though it is switched off in Bios (AWCC default Overclock 01 and 02 work). Also, AWCC seems not to be in full control of voltages because even though voltage is limited in manual mode in OVERCLOCK 02 to 1.215v all cores exceed 1.35v in Cinebench (check picture). So, what is the best combination? Leave OVERCLOCK OFF in Bios and do everything with AWCC? Or will OVERCLOCK ON in BIOS affect AWCC somehow (positively)? If ON in Bios, what setting (Level 1, Level 2 or custom)?

I have done the following tests, checkout the HWinfo64 readout and CPU temp graph.

https://imgur.com/hwDjA2L

Test setting: Overclock OFF in BIOS (stayed OFF)
-Test run 1 (first 3 spikes) CPU Test Cinebench R15 Multicore, AWCC Overclock OFF
-Test run 2 (second 3 spikes) CPU Test Cinebench R15 Multicore, AWCC Overclock 01
-Test run 3 (last 3 spikes) CPU Test Cinebench R15 Multicore, AWCC Overclock 02
-after Test run 1 and 2 reset history in HWinfo64

Now my questions still is if this is normal behavior for a liquid cooled I9 9900 K in a R8. What are normal temperatures for this CPU under full CPU load? I mean encoding 4k videos that are up to 30 min long will mean 30 min of CPU temps of around 85 - 90°C???? Can't be normal, can it?

And btw., even with the latest update of AWCC and OC fans are still only partially under control of AWCC. As soon as CPU voltage/temps go above 1.25v / 80°C fans are no longer controlled by AWCC but rather by something that resides inside the Bios. I guess it is a safety feature of the Bios that can't be overridden - fair enough.
The fan that is really annoying in my R8 is the front fan that not only makes a "whoooosh" air sound but starts to buzz at RPMs above 1500. So, maybe I will replace this one with a Noctua NF-S12A - anyone using it for the front fan? Should I go PWM or FLX? Do I understand correctly that using a custom front fan will not give you a Bios error unlike with the top fan?

OK, that was a long text.
Thanks for your support,

cheers,

rob

Two front fans in the R8?? Where did you place the second one?

Upstairs in front.